


Out of My League

by Mrs_Monaghan



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Happy Ending, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 08:38:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14209329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Monaghan/pseuds/Mrs_Monaghan
Summary: Mickey sees the men Ian goes out with. Sees the lavish life Ian lives. He's positive that as much as he likes the other boy, his feelings will never be reciprocated because Ian is out of Mickey's league.Or so he thinks.





	Out of My League

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Doddz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doddz/gifts).



> i got this idea in my head the other day while day drinking and now as i was typing it i decided i wanna gift it to Doddz because she's always great with her feedback, always and i am so grateful.  
> enjoy my dears!

18 year old Mickey is not an idiot.

He sees the expensive cars come and go from the Gallagher house. He sees the clothes the handsome redhead wears. He notices the expensive shoes. He saw the latest iPhone the 17 year old was spotting when he last came to visit Mandy at their place. Mickey _sees_.

And this is how he knows that his crush is out of his league.

They live in the Southside where all the families here are poor and do all they can to survive. And that includes the Milkoviches. Which means, that even if Mickey wanted to be with Ian –which he so desperately wants- he can't. Ian clearly loves balling and Mickey can't even afford to take him to a God damn restaurant. And if he did it would be the cheap ass ones that Ian is definitely not used to.

Mickey really tries his best not to judge Ian. From the friendly smiles Ian gives him whenever he's at their place, to how much the redhead cares about Mandy, Mickey can tell he has a great heart. So he tries not to label Ian. Maybe the way Mickey deals drugs to survive, is the way Ian lets rich, older men date and spoil him.

Mickey would love to spoil Ian. But he can't, he doesn’t even come close to having the amount of money that would require.

So he's left to watch the boy from a far, admire him from afar, wonder how his touch feels like, how his lips taste like, from afar. It’s a thing that bugs Mickey daily; the fact that he can't afford to give Ian the lifestyle he prefers. That’s what stopping him from telling Ian that he likes him. It does however give him the morale to work that much harder, in order to get to the level of these men so Ian will want him.

It’s the only thing he can do, for now.

 

☯➡☯➡☯➡☯➡☯➡☯

 

                Mickey has just come from meeting with one of his Northside customers when he walks past some expensive restaurant he only sees in passing. He's on the other side of the road, but he can see the Gallaghers on the terrace of the restaurant. They are loud as usual, which is how Mickey even noticed them. It doesn’t take a genius to know who is treating them to lunch or where Ian got the money to afford taking his family to such a place.

He watches them while chewing on his thumb nail, his eyes specifically on Ian. The redhead is chatting and laughing with his older brother Lip. Mickey looks at him for a few more seconds then walks away once he's had his fill. He tries not to get too depressed when once again, he's reminded that Ian will never be with him.

.

That evening they run out of smokes so Mickey dashes to the Kash & Grab. His mind must have been somewhere else because he bumps into Ian who's on his way out of the store.

“Oh! Hi Mickey.” Ian grins at him.

“Hi.” Mickey replies quietly.

There's an awkward silence because Mickey never knows how to talk to Ian. His tongue always feels heavy and his mouth always seems to dry up.

“So you're going in there?” Ian asks. Mickey nods wordlessly. He watches Ian open and then close his mouth before settling for; “Okay, I'll see you around then?”

He's just about to pass Mickey when the latter grabs his hand. The action surprises Mickey himself so he quickly lets go of Ian.

“Yes?” The redhead looks at him hopefully, which makes Mickey wonder what the taller boy is expecting to hear.

“Umm,” Mickey clears his throat. “I wanted to…” he trails off and reaches into his pocket. “I have something for you.” He's made good money this week, and he's got 500 dollars on his person. He takes 300 and hands it to Ian.

The redhead frowns at the money but doesn’t take it. “What…” his face scrunches up with confusion. “What's that for?”

Mickey looks at the pavement then back up to Ian. “I just, wanted to give it to you.”

“You’re giving me _money?!”_ Shit. He's angry. That wasn’t Mickey's intention. He really doesn’t want Ian to be mad at him. “Fuck you, Mickey.” The redhead walks away, only glancing back once to glare at Mickey.

“Fuck.” Mickey rubs a frustrated hand across his face. It really wasn’t his intention to make Ian upset. He feels so bad now. In hindsight he realizes him offering Ian money must not have painted a very good picture and that he just ended up labelling Ian after all. Thus offending his object of affection. “Fuck.”

 

☯➡☯➡☯➡☯➡☯➡☯

 

The following afternoon, Mickey is smoking a blunt with Iggy when their door bangs open.

“The fuck’s your problem bitch!” he curses at his sister. Mandy doesn’t reply but instead walks up to him and punches his arm. “What the fuck!”

“Did you call Ian a fucking gold digger?”

“What? No!” Mickey defends then thinks about his encounter with the other boy yesterday. “Not intentionally.”

“Fuck you Mick. Now he won't come around anymore.”

Mickey is glad he didn’t rob a store like he wanted to and offer Ian the money. That would have been ugly.

“I'm sorry.” He apologizes to his sister. “I didn’t mean to.”

Mandy sighs in frustration. “Apologise. Asshole.”

Mickey slumps back in his chair when she leaves. “You called Gallagher a gold digger?” Iggy asks. “Why would you do that to his face?”

“He's not a fucking gold digger.” Mickey defends.

“Says the guy who called him that exact thing.”

“I didn’t!”

Iggy just laughs and reaches for the game controls.

Shit. Mickey has to do something. He's not friends with Ian, but he lives for those short moments when they will come across each other and the redhead will give him that beautiful smile before walking away. Mickey has had dreams about that smile.

He needs to fix this.

Mandy comes out of her room showered and changed. “Where are you going?” Mickey inquires.

“Well, you’ve been uninvited, but to the Alibi. Lip is throwing Ian his birthday party there.” Then she's gone.

Mickey doesn’t miss the fact that he'd been invited at some point. He quickly turns to Iggy. “I need your car.”

“What the fuck for?”

Mickey punches his brother and Iggy yelps in shock. “Keys motherfucker.”

“Fine, Jesus.” Iggy lifts his hips up, expecting Mickey to take them out of his back pocket himself.

Mickey scoffs but also knows Iggy won't stop playing his game to hand him the keys so he has no choice.

 

.

 

Mickey parks outside the Alibi, hoping he's beaten Mandy here. Walking inside, he heads straight for the counter.

“Hi Kev.”

“Sup Mickey.”

“Need you to do something for me.”

Kev throws the towel on his shoulder. “Shoot.”

“You know how the Gallaghers are having a party here tonight?”

“Yeah. Its Ian's birthday.”

“Great. Okay so all of Ian's drinks will be on me. Whatever he drinks, put it on my tab.”

“Okay so what's the favor?”

“Don’t tell him who's buying when he asks.” Mickey explains. “Make something up just don’t let him know its me.” Kev crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at Mickey. The brunet looks towards the door, worried the Gallaghers will start arriving and he doesn’t want to be spotted. “So what do you say Kev? Will you cover for me?”

“Why?”

“Don’ fucking matter just lie and say I wasn’t even here if anybody asks.”

Kev shakes his head and starts wiping down the counter. “Not gonna lie to Ian for you man.”

Mickey grunts in frustration. “For fuck’s sake this place is called the Alibi.”

“So?” a confused Kev asks.

“So the least you can fucking do is be my fucking alibi.”

“Shit, that’s what that word means, doesn’t it?”

Mickey really wants to punch the bartender right about now. He's not here for English fucking lessons. “Yes.”

“Fine.”

Mickey quickly rushes out of the bar and into Iggy’s car. He knows making sure Ian's covered in the drinks department for the night is not enough to make up for his fuck up, but it’s a start.

 

☯➡☯➡☯➡☯➡☯➡☯

 

                Turns out everyone in the Milkovich house has plans for Thursday night apart from Mickey. So he finds himself alone, eating microwaved pizza and downing a six Pac of beer. Eventually midnight comes around and he starts to doze off.

He however doesn’t even get to his bedroom door before there's a bang on their front door. It could be that one of his –drunk- siblings forgot their keys, but just to be sure Mickey grabs the bat anyway. Pulling the door open, his jaw drops when he sees Ian standing on the other side of the door.

“Gallagher?”

Mickey barely has a chance to duck the punch that gets thrown his way and it lands straight across his cheek as intended. He grabs his abused cheek and looks at Ian flabbergasted because; what the fuck!

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Ian asks. He stumbles a little before walking into the house and Mickey realizes he's dealing with not only a pissed off, but a drunk Ian. “First you offer me money and now you’re buying me fucking drinks?”

Fucking Kev. “I…” Mickey gets lost on how to explain himself. How did buying Ian alcohol make shit worse? “It was an apology for what I did yesterday.”

“How I spend my time, is none of your fucking business! And who I spend my time with, is none of your fucking business!” Ian shouts, ignoring what he just said. He looks like he wants to cry and Mickey has never been more confused. “Who buys me shit, is none of your fucking business!”

“Okay.” Mickey says, dropping the bat and holding his hands up in a placating gesture.

“I'm not a fucking whore!”

What? “I didn’t say you were. Jesus Ian, calm down.”

“Don’t touch me!” Ian pushes Mickey when the latter tries to stabilize him when he staggers. “You can't just give me money and buy me drinks and, and, and…”

“Ian, please, listen.” Mickey tries desperately. Ian sniffs, wipes off his tears and watches Mickey skeptically. “This is all a misunderstanding.”

Ian sways in place and Mickey reaches for him again. This time Ian lets him. “Need to sit.”

“Okay, alright. Let’s sit.” He guides the redhead to a chair then rushes to the kitchen to get him some water. “Here.” Ian takes the offered glass but glares at Mickey anyway.

“I'm not a whore.” Ian repeats so quietly Mickey would have missed if it wasn’t so quiet.

“I know. And I am so fucking sorry it seems like that’s how I think of you.”

Ian sniffs. “It’s not?” he's pouting and Mickey's heart shutters at the thought of how much pain he's caused the younger boy.

“It’s not.”

“Then why offer me money?”

Mickey hates himself. “I don’ even fucking know man. I just wanted to do something nice for you.” He explains. “And tonight I was making up for that.”

Ian places the empty glass on the table. “Why?”

“Because I offended you.”

“No, I mean why did you want to do something nice for me?”

Mickey ducks his head, his face warm. “Because you deserve nice things.”

Ian frowns. “You weren’t paying me?”

“God, no.”

“Because,” he licks his thin, pink lips that Mickey has been obsessing over. “I know how it looks like. But they treat me well, they…I _do_ like nice things.” Mickey nods. “And I know people think I'm a whore but coming from you…” he inhales sharply. “Coming from you, it hurt.” Suddenly green eyes are looking straight at him and Mickey blinks severally. “I'm not a whore Mick, I swear. I have never been paid for sex. I do it because I want to. I…”

“Hey.” Mickey interrupts. “You don’t have to explain.”

“I just don’t want you to think that…”

“I like you.”

Its Ian's turn to blink severally. “What?”

“I fucking like you Ian. I have for a long fucking time but I didn’t know if you’d want someone like me…” he trails off then shrugs.

Ian rubs his eyes with the hells of both hands then chuckles lightly. “Shit.”

Sudden pain crosses Mickey's chest. There it is, his greatest fear is coming to pass. He's told Ian his feelings and now the redhead is laughing at him and because how dare Mickey think they’re on the same level? How dare Mickey…

“I can't believe this.” Ian voices.

Mickey swallows and gets up. He should have never said anything. He's a fucking idiot.

“I like you too Mick.”

Mickey drops back down on the chair.

 

☯➡☯➡☯➡☯➡☯➡☯

 

 

                After Ian had confessed that he too likes Mickey, the latter had been shocked speechless. Mickey had sat there staring at Ian, feeling like he’d heard wrong. Ian liked him back. Ian Gallagher liked him back!

Mickey had stared for too long without saying anything and when he’d finally gotten his shit together, Ian had already passed out on the chair. So he’d carried his long time crush to his bed and that’s where Ian is right now, still passed out.

Mickey is pacing back and forth on the foot of the bed with a cup of coffee in his hands. He knows what he heard, but he is still very skeptical about the fact that Ian likes his broke ass. Like, Ian is interested in him and Mickey is having a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that their feelings are mutual.

Ian turns, yawning and stretching out on Mickey's bed. The brunet kind of never wants Ian to leave.

“Hi.” A sleepy Ian is a beautiful Ian smiling up at him like that. “Sorry for passing out on you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Good.” Ian sits up. “Because it’s your fault for buying all those drinks.”

“Coffee?” Mickey raises his mug and Ian reaches for it. “No I wanted to make you a new…” Ian sips from the cup and moans. “one.”

Ian smiles at him again and taps on the space next to him. Mickey obediently joins him. “So you really like me?” the redhead asks shyly.

“So much. Do you?”

“So much.” Ian echoes and Mickey grins back.

“But, what about…” Mickey has to ask because it’s what Ian is used to and he doesn’t want the younger boy changing his mind when Mickey is already gone on him. Who's he kidding? It’s too late.

Ian sighs. “My mom took me to this club when I was sixteen and that’s how I met my first rich… man. So I just… I don’t know. I won't lie and say that I don’t like the gifts and the room service but it’s also not what I picture when I think about my future, you know?” he says. “I'm just passing time and they happen to be here.”

“So you have no problem ditching that life for a broke Milkovich?”

“I broke Milkovich that I've had a crush on for years? Hell yeah.” Mickey raises a surprised eyebrow. “Yeah.” Ian assures. Mickey remains speechless and he watches Ian's face fall. “You don’t believe me.”

“No! That’s not it. I'm just….” How does Mickey explain he’s overwhelmed because he thought Ian would never want him but it turns out he's wanted him this entire time?

Ian doesn’t let him explain though. He just places the mug of coffee on the floor and then straddles Mickey. Mickey's breath hitches when Ian smiles down at him and licks his lips. The redhead pecks his dry lips once, twice, before claiming them and giving Mickey this deep, heart filled kiss that renders him breathless. Mickey can only moan and hold onto the redhead as they slowly lay down on the mattress.

And just like that, Mickey's insecurities are put to rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Asanteni kwa Kusoma!  
> (｡♥‿♥｡)  
> Kudos and all comments Welkam!


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